Sladnas and I got in a good, last minute ride today at SMaRT in Fallbrook. The trails are in pretty good shape now -- not much sand at all. I brought the camera to take a few pics and had the weirdest thing happen: I wanted to get a pic of Mark on a little DH chute at the beginning of the ride. I went first and when I got to the bottom, I laid the bike down on the side of the trail. I then started walking over to the bottom to get into position for the pic. I only took a few steps and heard a loud pop. It was the tube on my rear tire blowing. It blew so hard, it unseated the bead of the rear tire and took it off the rim. I don't know what caused it to do that. Weird.


The ride was fun though. I got a few pics:













We then came up on some kids hitting the dirt jumps. Pretty sweet:







It was fun watching them hit the jumps. We started to scope more stuff on the plateau area around the jumps. I pointed out a roller I have been eyeing for awhile and Mark hit it like it was nothing. I wasn't feeling it and didn't roll it. Maybe later. There was also a huge dirt mound about 10' high. It had a near vertical face but was really smooth so you could roll right up it and pop up onto the top. We both hit it, but I didn't get any pics, don't know why it didn't occur to me--stupid. Oh well. Here's a vid of Mark rolling the sketch. As usual, the vid makes it look tame. Keep in mind it's nearly vertical and the line you had to hit was less than a foot wide at the bottom.




And just for the hell of it, a pic of my Spot with its new Stylo cranks an upgraded 5.3" rockers:

Thanks -- I'm going tomorrow morning. Haven't been in a while.

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Thus, if we are to understand the world, we should live somewhere between judgement and amazement — Alfredo Lopez Austin

Nice report, I like the look of those Dirt Jumps! About that tire, sounds like you had to much pressure?? I have done the same thing, about 40-45 psi going downhill pretty hard. I had the tire blow up underneath me though and it sounded like a shotgun!

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I need to ride more! I like going fast, I get kind of burly, and I hate riding uphill....Who's down to ride?

Thanks for the report. I have not ridden SMaRT. That will change soon. Looks like good fun.

-CHEERS

Had a great ride there this morning. Glad you showed me the east entrance last time Doug, because since I was at the west end last summer they've added the fenced-in Park with big signs saying "Hours 9:30-4:00". And not real clear if the "No Parking" sign means just in front of the gate (probably), or not at all outside the fence. So I just went over to Stagecoach. Oddly though, once you're on the trail it still says "open sunrise to sunset". I sent an e-mail to Fallbrook Land Conservancy asking for clarification, and if that's true, a passage thru the Park to the trailhead.

There were lots of hikers, equestrians, and unleashed dogs on it early. All equestrians were very friendly. One pit bull mix was not. One equestrian asked" Does your bike get spooked when the wind blows a tree down? Cuz my horse sure did just now!".

It was beautiful along the river as always. There are sections with great flow, and some good short climbs & descents. That is a great place, but unfortunately the trails are erosion-prone and not sustainable in places. A couple spots really suffered from the last rains. Some real work (retaining walls & a few re-routes) would cherry it out though.

Afterwards my friend Dale worked those jumps a while. I got like half an inch of air on one and then just watched, saving my energy for the hill back to the car.

[About the tube -- I had one blow up on my bike in the back of my car while I was driving along. Rather than overpressure, maybe a defective tube, thin spot in the rubber?]

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Thus, if we are to understand the world, we should live somewhere between judgement and amazement — Alfredo Lopez Austin

Me neither. I'd be up for a group foray into new trailness.

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"We'll ride it until they pave it."

-Big Clyde

Nice TR, looked like a great day to go MTB.

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That's odd, though I haven't been over to the west-end trailhead in over a year. I wasn't aware of the signage and fence.

The ruts caused by rain and all the wash-outs are a common occurrence. When we had the heavy rains in '05, the trails were completely washed out in 5-6 different spots. It made rides there interesting for sure.

As for the tube--it was pretty old. That wheelset sat for a good 18 months--with a tire and tube on it. I'm guessing it blew due to age. I suppose putting a new tube in it when I swapped the front tire when I built up the Spot would've been a good idea.

James/Queastionis drove up today and we rode it again this afternoon. He liked the drop-in from my dad's house a lot.

I'd be happy to lead another ride out there whenever. The sooner the better. When Spring hits, it'll quickly turn to "Sand City" out there.

looks like a nice area.

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It is nice. For more info, MTB Bill has it listed on his site, and here's a link to an earlier TR James (quaestionis) did when Doug led several of us on a ride.

http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/t ... smart.html

It is not hard to find on your own, but it is Doug's (PacMan) home trail, and he's a good host, happy to lead a ride, as he said earlier.

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Thus, if we are to understand the world, we should live somewhere between judgement and amazement — Alfredo Lopez Austin